Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 15: The High Court has quashed four detention orders passed under Public Safety Act citing non application of mind, failure to provide detention record to the detenues and directed their release.
Justice Sanjay Dhar and Justice M A Chowdhary have quashed detention orders of detenues Mohammad Maqbool Karnaie, Sameer Ahmad Khan, Shahid Nazir Malik and Zahid Zameer Mir.
These detenues were detained by the District Magistrates of Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts respectively vide detention orders dated 28.02.2022, 14.02.2022, 28.06.2022 and 25.06.2022 with a view to prevent them from acting in any manner prejudicial to security of the State.
Court said that a detenue cannot be expected to make an effective and purposeful representation which is his Constitutional right guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India, unless and until the material, on which the detention is based, is supplied to him. “The failure on the part of detaining authority to supply the material renders the detention order illegal and unsustainable in law”, read one of the judgments.
Court dealing with other plea said that on the basis of these vague grounds of detention, without there being any satisfaction on the part of the detaining authority as to the likelihood of the detenue indulging in similar activities after having been released on bail in FIR, the impugned order of detention is not sustainable in law.
In case of Malik’s case, court said, the non-application of mind by the detaining authority is also writ large in view of the fact that the detention order has been framed in a manner that it has not applied its mind but has acted upon the dossier, prepared by the Senior Superintendent of Police Shopian only.
“The obligation of the Government to afford to the detenue an opportunity to make representation is distinct from the Government’s obligation to refer the case of the detenue along with representation to the Advisory Board to enable it to form its opinion and send a report to the Government”, court recorded in Mir’s case.
The court while quashing all these PSAs allowed all the four pleas of these detenues with the direction to the authorities to release them from the preventive custody provided they are not required in any other case.
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